The young killer, described by one student as a playground bully, had been living at home with his mother, a man referred to as an uncle and a younger sibling. The boy’s father is in county prison, said Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch.

Both the mother and reputed uncle may face charges in connection with the shooting.

“We are pretty much zeroing in on the home and the conditions in which he lived,” Busch said.

Where did the boy get the gun? “That’s the $64,000 question right there,” he said.

Meanwhile, the town was left reeling — mourning the loss of innocence and the loss of a life.

“They’ve taken a young 6-year-old away from us, and there’s not going to be any replacement,” Kayla Rolland’s weeping maternal grandmother, Ingrid Javor, told the Detroit Free Press.

“She had her whole future ahead of her. Now she’s gone.”

Family friend Debra Jones cried as she recalled that Kayla “smiled all the time. She was just a sweet, sweet little girl.”

Jana Nicks, a 6-year-old friend of Kayla’s, said they liked to play duck-duck-goose and freeze tag in recess.

“She was real nice and laughed a lot,” Jana said.

Kayla’s 15-year-old baby sitter called her a happy-go-lucky, typical little girl who loved playing with dolls.

“She wasn’t old enough to die. She didn’t have a life yet,” a stricken Amy Lamoreaux said.

Shields, the pastor, said debate is raging in the community over whether race played a role.

The shooter is black; Kayla was white.

“This has nothing whatsoever to do with color,” Shields insisted. “It is about character and personality and restructuring the minds of our young people.”